Front sight for firearms



July 25, 1939. B. A. TETZLAFF FRONT SIGHT FOR FIREARIS Original Filed Jan. 29, 1937 33. GEGMETRlCAL lNSTRUMEJUSQ Patented July 25, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application January 29, 1937, Serial No. 123,030 Renewed December 17, 1938 1 Claim.

This invention relates to sights and has particular reference to front sights for firearms.

Among the objects of my invention is the provision of a novel shielded or hooded front sight embodying a tubular sighting member provided with a pair of interchangeable tubular hoods of different lengths, said hoods being screwmounted on opposite ends of the sighting member and interchangeable one with the other for relative mounting on the ends of the sighting member to thereby adapt the use of such sight to varying light conditions.

Another object of the invention is found in the provision of a cylindrical sighting member having a cylindrical aperture support formed integrally with the sighting member by means of a pair of horizontal arms and a vertical arm.

A further object of my invention is to provide a tubular sighting member with a base, an aperture support, a pair of arms disposed parallelly to the base, and an arm disposed vertically to the base; all of the arms being formed integrally with the sighting member at their outer ends, and at their inner ends, integrally with the aperture support.

Another feature of my invention is found in the provision of a cylindrical hooded sight having an optically aligned cylindrical aperture member.

Still another feature of my invention resides in the novel design and arrangement of the parts and members whereby the hoods and the sighting member have aligned or flush outer surfaces so that there are no parts projecting outwardly of the sight which might become loosened, detached or damaged when the firearm on which such sight is mounted is inserted or withdrawn from a guncase or the like.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the novel combination, construction and arrangement of the parts and members shown in preferred embodiment in the attached drawing, described in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an end of a firearm barrel showing my improved front sight;

Fig. 2 is a similar View showing the hoods in reverse position;

Fig. 3 is an end view of same;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section through the sight;

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the aperture adapter and its support; and

Figs. '7 and 8 show respectively, side and top views of the adapters and their mounting plate.

In the drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral ID indicates the front or discharge end of a rifle provided with a transversely disposed dove-tailed groove ll adapted to receive the dove-tailed base l2 of a tubular, and preferably cylindrical, sighting member l3.

The opposite ends of the cylindrical sighting member 13 extend preferably substantially equal distances beyond the sides of the base l2 and are exteriorly threaded, as at M, to receive the cylindrical hoods l5 and I 6. These hoods are of like diameters and their outside diameters are preferably equal to the outside diameter of the sighting member l3, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The outer ends of the cylindrical hoods l5 and I6 are preferably provided with peripheral flanges, respec tively 15 and IS disposed inwardly of the aligned sighting bores I5 and I6 and the diameter of the openings at such flanged ends being preferably equal to the inside diameter of the cylindrical Wall of the sighting member 13.

It will be noted that the sighting member I3 is provided with a support adapted to receive any one of a plurality of aperture adapters I1, which adapters are provided with transverse walls I! having sighting apertures N3 of different diameters. The adapters may for convenience be furnished screw-mounted on a plate l9 as shown in Figs. '7 and 8.

The adapters I! are preferably machined on the inside from the opposite ends to form the apertured wall H as an integral part of the tubular wall of the adapter.

The support for the sighting aperture adapter I! consists of a comparatively short cylindrical portion 20, disposed centrally of the cylindrical member l3, and having comparatively thin narrow arms 21 and 22 formed integrally therewith and integrally with the wall of the cylindrical member l3.

The arms 2| are disposed on a horizontal line passing through the center of the optical axis of the sight and are parallel to the bottom face of the base [2, whereas the arm 22 is disposed vertically to the bottom face of the base [2 on a vertical line passing through the center of the optical axis of the sight. Since the sighting bores of the hoods l5 and I6 and that of member [3 is substantially preferably three times the diameter of the adapter I! it is readily seen that HUUESE this sight provides a large field of vision outside of the wall of the adapter I! for observation of the target or object aimed at, and furthermore, the horizontal and vertical positioning of the arms 2| and 22 affords a detection of cant in the position of the firearm barrel.

The cylindrical adapter support 20 is threaded interiorly from the outer end thereof to receive the exteriorly threaded end [1 of the adapter 11.

The arrows in Figs. 1 and 2 indicate the direction of sighting through the sight. When the light is directed toward the object or forwardly of the firearm barrel, the longer of the hoods I6 is mounted on the rear end of the member l3 as shown in Fig. 1, but if the light is directed toward the end of the firearm barrel, the shielding of the sighting aperture in such front sight is more effected by a reverse mounting of such hoods on the member l3 as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

It will be readily understood that the diameter and length of the cylindrical support 20 may be varied, that is, its thickness could be equal to the thickness of the arms 2i and 22; and if desired, the inner and outer diameters of the portion 20 could be such that the same would constitute a fixed sighting aperture.

I claim:

A front sight comprising a cylindrical sight,- ing member having threaded ends and a dovetailed supporting base member disposed between the threaded ends; an interiorly threaded cylindrical support disposed concentrically with said cylindrical sighting member, said cylindrical support being substantially shorter than said cylindrical sighting member; a pair of laterally aligned narrow arms disposed parallel to the bottom face of said supporting base member on a horizontal line passing through the optical axis of the sight; a narrow arm disposed perpendicularly to the bottom face of said supporting base member on a vertical line passing through the optical axis of the sight; said arms being integral with said cylindrical support and with the wall of said cylindrical sighting member and extending in a plane common to adjacent ends of said cylindrical sighting member and said cylindrical support; an adapter having an apertured sighting diaphragm therein, sai d adapter having a threaded end adapted to be screw-mounted within said cylindrical support; and ahpair of elongated ope screw-mounted on the threaded ends of said cylindrical sighting member, said hoods being of relatively different lengths and being interchangeable for relative mounting on the ends of said cylindrical sighting member.

BENJAMIN A. TETZLAFF. 

